Saturday, August 09, 2008
Playgirl, no more--veinglory
Apparently PLAYGIRL magazine will be closing its print edition and going web-only. Frankly I had no idea the magazine was still in print. I looked through the meagre free parts of the PLAYGIRL website and was more amused than aroused.
Blog responses to the news don't include a lot of unalloyed dismay:
"while a woman’s name was listed as being in charge, straight men were dictating what women should find erotic." [crocodile caucus]
"Playgirl may not have given ladies exactly what they wanted (coughhardcockscough). Well, nobody's perfect..." [fleshbot]
"The magazine that brought beefcake into the lives of shuttered gay men and the average American household will no longer be available..." [bearotic]
"Playgirl Shuts Down After 35 Years of Not Getting Their Target Audience" [Fashionindie]
"What was Playgirl's target demographic?" [The Corsair]
"Even the mere thought of Spencer Pratt posing nude was enough to kill Playgirl." [TMZ]
"And, with Playgirl’s death, so too we must mourn feminism and all its cultural byproducts, like Playgirl. Why, cruel God, why?!" [Queerty] ¶ posted at 8:34 PM by Emily Veinglory
Apparently PLAYGIRL magazine will be closing its print edition and going web-only. Frankly I had no idea the magazine was still in print. I looked through the meagre free parts of the PLAYGIRL website and was more amused than aroused.Blog responses to the news don't include a lot of unalloyed dismay:
"while a woman’s name was listed as being in charge, straight men were dictating what women should find erotic." [crocodile caucus]
"Playgirl may not have given ladies exactly what they wanted (coughhardcockscough). Well, nobody's perfect..." [fleshbot]
"The magazine that brought beefcake into the lives of shuttered gay men and the average American household will no longer be available..." [bearotic]
"Playgirl Shuts Down After 35 Years of Not Getting Their Target Audience" [Fashionindie]"What was Playgirl's target demographic?" [The Corsair]
"Even the mere thought of Spencer Pratt posing nude was enough to kill Playgirl." [TMZ]
"And, with Playgirl’s death, so too we must mourn feminism and all its cultural byproducts, like Playgirl. Why, cruel God, why?!" [Queerty] ¶ posted at 8:34 PM by Emily Veinglory
Comments:
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Oh, geez... I actually bought that issue with Duchovny on the cover umpteen years ago! In fact, I think that's the only issue of PLAYGIRL I ever bought.
I didn't know they were still in business either.
I didn't know they were still in business either.
Is Duchovny wearing a diaper on that cover or what?
OK I admit I bought a few back in the eighties till I found Drummer and realized that hardcore mags were far better.
OK I admit I bought a few back in the eighties till I found Drummer and realized that hardcore mags were far better.
Gawker did a fairly interesting article on this, where they said a large part of the problem--according to them--was that because of Playgirl's interest to gay men, a lot of the ads they accepted were simply too hardcore for female readers. I don't know if I agree with that, but I do think the problem in large part was failure to find its demographic, as those quotes attest. I believe for a time they changed their focus exclusively to gay men, and I don't think they really recovered from that with straight women.
I bought it once or twice. Once when I turned 18 (because, you know, I was 18 and wanted to do something I hadn't been able to do before, so it was lottery tickets and Playgirl! Wooo!) and once because they did an interview with Dweezil Zappa I wanted to read.
You can read all the Gawker articles on this topic here.
Personally I think if they'd turned themselves into a truly erotic magazine for women, with stories and photos of aroused men, they could have actually found a market.
Are there magazines like that for gay men, Teddy? (Glad to see you around again, btw, I hadn't seen you for a while and wondered if you were okay.)
I bought it once or twice. Once when I turned 18 (because, you know, I was 18 and wanted to do something I hadn't been able to do before, so it was lottery tickets and Playgirl! Wooo!) and once because they did an interview with Dweezil Zappa I wanted to read.
You can read all the Gawker articles on this topic here.
Personally I think if they'd turned themselves into a truly erotic magazine for women, with stories and photos of aroused men, they could have actually found a market.
Are there magazines like that for gay men, Teddy? (Glad to see you around again, btw, I hadn't seen you for a while and wondered if you were okay.)
If those pix you posted are any indication of what Playgirl considered sexy, I'm not surprised they tanked.
An Auschwitz survivor? Uh, sorry, doesn't do it for me.
An Auschwitz survivor? Uh, sorry, doesn't do it for me.
I will admit I choose two noticeably bad picture examples. But they were known for bad covers and the other picture is from their blog where many of the guys strike me as ... unusual choices.
December,
I think a lot of women respond positively to the new style of gay beefcake books like the European rugby player picture books and the like. Art photography style books and lots and lots of naked men.
Just check them out over at A Different Light online store. I think those basically took the place of these mags.
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I think a lot of women respond positively to the new style of gay beefcake books like the European rugby player picture books and the like. Art photography style books and lots and lots of naked men.
Just check them out over at A Different Light online store. I think those basically took the place of these mags.
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